Duke coach David Cutcliffe gets a celebratory Gatorade dousing courtesy of long snapper Thomas Hennessy, left, and offensive tackle Perry Simmons after the win against Miami (Fla.). The Blue Devils had not beaten the 'Canes in their previous nine tries dating to 1976. / Mark Dolejs, USA TODAY Sports

by Eddie Timanus, USA TODAY Sports

by Eddie Timanus, USA TODAY Sports

Indications are growing stronger that the College Football Playoff is going to arrive a year too late.

If the four undefeated teams from major conferences were to continue their winning ways, they would produce the perfect scenario for the four-team championship format that will go into effect in 2014. Unfortunately, for the present there's one more year of the BCS system that allows only two to play for the title. So for now, the teams competing for the No. 3 ranking can only keep winning and hope one of the top two squads in the USA TODAY Sports coaches poll, a component of the BCS formula, stumbles.

No. 1 Alabama came surprisingly close to doing just that Saturday night. But it's stifling defense carried the day to compensate for a sluggish offensive outing in a 20-7 win at Mississippi State that kept the Tide on course for a third consecutive trip to the BCS finale. Alabama did lose a couple of first-place votes to No. 2 Florida State but is still comfortably in first place overall with 56 of 62 No. 1 votes.

The Seminoles, meanwhile, put on yet another display of dominance in a 59-3 romp past Syracuse to easily retain the No. 2 spot, gaining two more first-place votes and adding to its total of four from a week ago.

No. 3 Ohio State took a while to put away Illinois but remained No. 3, though its lead over No. 4 Baylor was reduced a bit. The Bears very quickly erased an early 14-point deficit and rolled past Texas Tech to remain No. 4. Both Ohio State's and Baylor's point totals increased, but the Buckeyes' overall margin was trimmed from 25 poll points to 18 ahead of Baylor.

Also highlighting the poll this week is the appearance of No. 24 Duke. The Blue Devils' home victory against then-No. 23 Miami (Fla.) gave them sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference's Coastal Division and their first eight-win season since 1994. That was the last time Duke appeared in the coaches poll, a No. 21 ranking in the final survey of the regular season that year.

Stock up: Oregon. The biggest question concerning the new poll was which team would replace Stanford as the top-rated one-loss team. Turns out it is Oregon, the team Stanford handed its lone loss 10 days ago. The Ducks weren't exactly dominant themselves in getting past Utah on Saturday, but it was enough to leapfrog Clemson by 14 poll points for the No. 5 ranking.

Stock down: Stanford. The Cardinal, meanwhile, weren't able to capitalize on their success from the previous week and lost a 20-17 squeaker to a suddenly surging Southern California squad. The Cardinal tumbled seven positions to land at No. 12. The Trojans, meanwhile, re-entered the rankings at No. 25.

Stock up: Michigan State. The Spartans solidified their grip on the Big Ten Legends Division and are on a collision course with Ohio State for the league title. Following its win at Nebraska, MSU climbed three places to No. 13.

Stock down: Louisville. The Cardinals were a victim of the Spartans' surge. They might also have taken some collateral damage from American Athletic Conference leader Central Florida's near disaster at lowly Temple. In any event, Louisville took a two-position hit to land at No. 15 despite earning a home win against Houston.

Stock up: Wisconsin. The Badgers also made a three-spot jump after a dominant outing vs. Indiana. Wisconsin is now at No. 17 and might still be in the conversation for an at-large BCS bowl invitation.

Stock down: Fresno State. It was a bad week for the Bulldogs to be idle, as they were shuffled back to No. 16. But they remain the top-ranked member of the non-AQ club and could still earn a big-money bowl berth.

New kids on the block: No. 24 Duke, No. 25 Southern California.

College dropouts: Miami (Fla.), Texas.

Eddie Timanus, a national colleges reporter and the poll editor for USA TODAY Sports, is on Twitter @EddieTimanus.